Not that it matters. But people have started asking me who I think was involved in these abductions and murders. I think the evidence is indisputable that Christopher Brian Busch and Greg Green were involved. If you haven’t picked up on that by reading my blog, I can’t help you there. I think kids disappeared like this all the time in the Detroit area and on N. Fox Island, but as one victim said, nobody cared until it started happening in the suburbs.
Police reports reveal many, many names of pedophiles operating in and around Wayne, Oakland, St. Clair, Traverse and Charlevoix Counties in the 1970s. These monsters also helped produce child porn and snuff films. Frank Shelden was at the top of this shit pile until he had to flee the country to avoid prosecution for child rape in 1976. But all of these disgusting names that keep swirling around–Ted Lamborgine, Richard Lawson, Bobby Moore, Arch Sloan, David Norberg and many others–they participated by tricking, bribing, abducting kids and raping them. They knew these kids were being filmed and photographed. They knew some of them would never be and were never seen alive again. They trafficked children. This is obvious not only from the police investigation into Ted Lamborgine, but also the scrawny MSP file on N. Fox Island, containing transcripts of people who were victims of Shelden and Gerald Richards, including girls.
I think Chris Busch, an admitted pedophile since the age of 17 who was enabled by his wealthy parents, was sick enough to carry out the Oakland County version of what he saw happening in Detroit and Fox Island. Green, his monsterous side-kick, had spent a year in a state hospital in California after raping and victimizing some 50 boys and choking one of his victims almost to death before dumping him on the grounds of a hospital. Busch had access to his parents’ home in Bloomfield Hills (parents in Europe much of the time), as well as a cottage up north at Ess Lake, both easy places to hold a child captive. I think Green, described over and over again in the thousands of documents I have read as an extremely violent pedophile, was most likely the person who killed these kids, but it could have been whoever was participating in the end of the snuff films these freaks were filming. In all of the documents, it is clear that Green and Lamborgine were intensely violent men, and that Green was most certainly capable of murder.
Once these two freaks, Busch and Green, and perhaps “helpers” (and this could include Helen’s “John” who lived close to the Busch home and certainly seemed like someone who could use a little money for trafficking kids) had these kids, I’m sure they did arrange for abuse and filming by others during their captivity. Again, the documents I have read support this theory.
And I think it is reasonable to conclude that the first three kids’ bodies were dumped in plain view in Oakland County as a sick homage to Busch’s father, Daddy Warbucks. The heat was on in Oakland County, so Tim’s body was dumped in Wayne County. It seems evident from what I have read that Busch and Green trafficked my brother during the six days he was missing. So others not only knew, but were complicit. That’s why Ted Lamborgine failed his polygraph concerning this case and neither he nor Arch Sloan could find a way to take the deal LE was offering to make their lives in prison a little easier if they talked about what they know about the OCCK crimes.
I know there is a strong argument that Green was in jail when Tim was abducted and murdered. I’m not buying it. If he did “miss out” on Tim’s week in Hell on Earth, he took credit for all four crimes when he told his cellmate about his resume.
Many people write me often to tell me that their grandfather, their uncle, their neighbor, their piano teacher, and just about every other serial murderer across America who has never been caught, is the (and the sole) OCCK. Had I not read what I have read over the past 12 years, I could understand their beliefs. There were some unbelievable monsters living in Michigan and around the country who were/are capable of committing these crimes. But they didn’t.
Kids were trafficked, raped, filmed for child pornography in stunningly horrifying numbers in the 1970s. Frank Shelden is the Hades here and Gerald Richards, Dyer Grossman and Adam Starchild are right behind him. The Detroit area had a very organized pedophile ring. When people like Bob Moore saw how much money could be made in child pornography, they expanded their operations.
Busch and Green took it to the suburbs in a bigger way–kill the victims (no doubt on film) and dump their bodies in the open. A sick fuck like Busch would enjoy messing with the police. Of course he watched the media coverage and ate it up. And how about when he told cops where he liked to pick up boys?? The three abduction locations, in order, of Mark, Jill and Kristine. Tim had not yet been abducted. They system showed him time and again that he would never pay for his crimes. So he kept it up until someone put a bullet between his eyes.
The men who participated in the victimization or captivity of these kids need to be revealed, as do those who knew or should have known and kept their mouths shut. This cowardice, sickness and silence cost the lives of Mark, Jill, Kristine and Tim and no doubt numerous other children you animals considered expendable. I call on the relatives of Francis (Frank) Shelden to make a massive donation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by year end. If you inherited money from this man, it is blood money of the worst kind.
I think that if the MSP and the FBI fail to rerun all of the genetic evidence in this case and to use the most advanced DNA testing and genetic database searching currently available, and soon, that the Justice Department should investigate this investigation. It has been a questionable investigation since Day 1. I think the State Police and the FBI owe the families and the public at large an explanation of where this case stands as of today. I think the state police owe us (and the other families as well) the simple dignity of an apology for not listening to us and jacking us around.
I think the media in Oakland County and Michigan should take investigative journalism seriously and file a FOIA request for the entire OCCK case instead of relying on family members of victims to file and pay for FOIA requests. As in the Adam Walsh murder investigation, the files could be copied and downloaded and sold at a reasonable price to anyone who wanted it. The state police and the FBI should have a time limit within which to complete this.
As I have written about before, in the Walsh investigation Florida newspapers filed a court action to force the Hollywood, Florida PD to open their files to the media. The case had been “open” for 14 years. The court ordered the HPD to copy over 10,000 pages from their files onto microfilm and gave them just under four months to accomplish this. Adam’s father John was worried that release of the files would jeopardize the investigation. He would later agree with his attorney, who said “The only thing that releasing the files might reveal is that Hollywood Police are the biggest bunch of bungling idiots since the Keystone Cops.” Release of the files also revealed the heartbreak of all the things that were NOT done in the case and all the things that were missed. Tears of Rage, John Walsh, Pocket Star Books (1997), p. 277-303.
Maybe the press could take a page from the late Marilyn Wright’s book. She was the investigative journalist with the Traverse City Record-Eagle who figured out, doggedly followed and exposed what was taking place on N. Fox Island and indeed around the country with these sick pedophiles. Her work on this in 1977 and 1978 remains the only real reporting to the public about those crimes.
I will never understand why law enforcement would not take a brave look at this investigation to figure out what went wrong and how such grievous errors can be avoided in the future. In the Yorkshire Ripper/Peter Sutcliffe case, a complex serial murder case involving more than 10 victims, “and the typical ills of investigating an ongoing serial killer case,” the British Parliament conducted a major review critical of the investigative procedures that failed in that case.
[The typical ills of this type of investigation included:] numerous victims, thousands of suspects, poor control and coordination of incoming leads, inexperienced personnel to investigate or supervise, improper media relations, investigations conducted on tangents, ill-conceived procedures in prioritizing investigative leads, and inadequate filing procedures of case materials. The Yorkshire Ripper cases are atypical because the British Parliament conducted a major review critical of the investigative procedures; a procedure unprecedented in U.S. criminal investigations. The product of the review was the discovery of a multitude of investigative errors and the establishment of the HOLMES system, a central repository of case information in major cases. That kind of database goes a long way to solve many of the information disconnects that plague interagency task force investigations, particularly the cases involving serial offenders such as killers and sex offenders.
The Psychology of Serial Killer Investigations, The Grisly Business Unit, Academic Press (2003), p. XV. Sutcliffe was interviewed by police 12 times during his murder spree and let go each time. But officials in that case did not hide the investigative problems and issues under the rug. Why do officials in Michigan get to act like the OCCK never happened? The Michigan State Police should update the public on the status of their investigation and they should move on the tips they have received since the airing of Children of the Snow this past February. Or throw in the towel and open your files so someone who is committed and smart can get after this shit. Many players have died since 1977. Some are still alive. Time is of the essence, even though you appear to just want to run out the clock.
That’s what I think. I am more than willing to be proven wrong. I’m not getting paid to figure this out, or looking for a gold star, or a book or movie deal. I am speaking up because Mark, Jill, Kris and Tim cannot. Let’s just get the to the truth here, after more than four decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Who did this, who else was involved and is anyone who participated in the investigation corrupt? Law enforcement’s failure to come clean in this case, make corrections, use the DNA testing methods currently being used consistently and successfully around the country, and their deafening silence defiles the memory of these four kids and society at large.
Absolutely horrifying. Sick fucks indeed.
Sending you strength as you fight for justice.
You laid it out as pure and simple as anyone could.
I am eternally questioning how so many law enforcement personnel could keep so damned quiet for four decades. To whom are they beholden??? Makes NO sense.
One of your very recent postings mentioned Bob Moore, who apparently did photography of these and many other kids. I don’t remember hearing about him. Where can I learn more?
And I am going to try to find Marilyn Wright’s book.
Marilyn Wright had a series of news articles in the Traverse City newspaper. I will try to post them.
Three days after the warrant for Sheldon”s arrest was issued an 18 year old youth committed suicide with a rifle. He had been “promised money to go through college” by Sheldon, who wrote it in a letter to him from Florida. This is what I found a minute ago when I googled Marilyn Wright’s name, wanting to read her book or articles written by her. Marilyn wrote this in the Traverse Eagle.This youth can’t be Chris Busch. Who is this? Why haven’t we read information on this?
I bet there’s plenty of information to be gleaned up in the police records office in Traverse City.
The young man was one of his victims over the years who aged out of Shelden’s preference.
Cathy. Very well stated. I pray for justice. Just knowing the evil men who are responsible for your brother’s death and my stepson’s death no longer walk free nor do they breath gives me at least a small sense of peace. They are off this earth where they no longer have the right to be. They both went keeping their dirty secrets to themselves. No deathbed confession for us nor for you. The police could not or would not bring us justice but I believe God took care of it. I still pray that Ted will put his religion where his mouth is and talk about what he knows. God will deal with him too in a very special way. Peace this Christmas to you and your family.
Jessie
>
You, too, Jessie.
Cathy, as for someone that’s been following this case for 7yrs strong (was 9yrs old living in Oakland county during the slayings), I think what you think is right on point.
If the ball is in MSP’s court, and they have NOTHING further to add to the strength of solving these crimes or an unwillingness to proceed, then it’s time to hand it off. The Department of Justice needs to break this down. Hell, you broke it down with your extensive work and assistance from others that actually care about justice for these kids.
For as long as there are those of us that have voices and air in our lungs, we will not let Oakland county, Michigan, or America forget about these victims, the horrible torture and deaths they endured, and their family’s struggle for answers. 40 years of patronizing…NO MORE!!! Accountability at all levels of this investigation from top to bottom should be paramount!
Question?
Where is John Hastings now? Dead? Still roaming earth?
Currently living in Doraville, GA
Thank you for your comments. Hastings is roaming, as noted in Judi’s comment. Yet another person who was not pushed in the way he should have been to come clean about: (1) his participation in these crimes, or (2) his knowledge concerning these crimes, or (3) why he told another person in great detail (and was overheard telling this person by someone who had nothing to gain by coming forward with this) that he was the OCCK. He walked because LE believed this last time they spoke with him that he was just a simple crime aficionado, with an emphasis on serial murders, who liked to talk crime.
A “simple” crime aficionado with an emphasis on serial murders who brings a massive Serial Killer reference book to an interview with LE. Yeah. . . that’s simple.
Yeah, the book was a nice touch, right? I wonder who suggested he bring that tome to his little chat with police.
I have argued before that the massive, continuing failure – to this day! – by law enforcement to solve this case is NOT due to simple incompetence or to the complexities of the evidence:
1. On multiple levels, especially at the federal and state level, the failure is breath-taking. The FBI had jurisdiction over any multi-state/international pedo-ring investigation in the 1970’s, and beyond doubt, such an investigation of North Fox Island was underway in 1977.
2. The Michigan State Police had jurisdiction over any multi-county ring, and at the time of the arrests of Greg Green and Chris Busch in January of 1977, both Genesee and Oakland Counties were involved.
3. At the time of Kristine’s abduction and murder in early January, 1977, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department had jurisdiction into a multi-city investigation (Ferndale, Royal Oak, Berkley).
No, this massive law-enforcement failure could only have been deliberate. And that could only have been to protect some very vital interest – the public reputations and funding of those agencies.
And the only thing that could have threatened the reputations and funding could have been the knowledge that somehow, members of those agencies were involved.
Public disclosure that members of any law enforcement agencies were involved in any way with these cases, no matter how tangentially, would have been devastating.
While it is possible that some members of some law enforcement agencies were directly involved (see the curious case of the witness to Kristine’s behavior near a Berkley P.D officer in the Berkley 7-11 just before she disappeared), I think it is much more probable that members of the OCCK ring were in contact with various levels of law enforcement as “informants”, “contacts”, “sources of information”, “PCI’s”, etc.
That’s how law enforcement at all levels works – they recruit bad guys to rat out other bad guys. That recruitment is a combination of carrot and stick approaches, and usually works. The “sources” become hooked on the monthly stipend from their handler, and they work to provide usable information.
If they have no usable information, they go back to jail. So they come up with it/create it/pass it on.
I’ll bet my last dollar that some of the perps in the OCCK case (some of whom have already been listed – Ted Lamborgine and Arch Sloan are very, very likely to have been witnesses/abettors), were “contacts” for some levels of law enforcement about the North Fox Island ring and other things.
When the FBI, the MSP and probably local LE realized their own “contacts” (Chris Busch, etc.) were not merely reporting on bad guys making pedo-porn, but were part of a murder ring, any further investigation of that ring would have stopped immediately.
The number one job at that point for all levels of LE would have been CYA.
The way to do that?
Kill the sources,intimidate the witnesses, and destroy the evidence.
That way, the case could never truly be solved, and they could never really be blamed.
And so, for 42 years, that would appear to be where we are . . .
YES! Now how do I get the word to the largest segment of society that this is indeed what took place and that even today government at every level is frustrating justice and harming those who speak up? I have been audited by the IRS EVERY SINGLE YEAR since I started this blog. I have an accountant do my taxes, I am not a cheater and they have fucked with me, for the first time in my life, on a consistent and most years, indefensible manner. I know how this works–I worked for a state attorney general and in the white collar crime arena, cops and other agencies were always suggesting sticking the IRS and state tax agencies on people. The state police and Oakland County prosector made my brother, my dad, Kristine’s sister and stepdad cool their heels at the MSP before a meeting where they just fucked with them and answered no questions. Want to know what happened while they were sent off to the little waiting room at the MSP post? THEY WERE RECORDED. Fuck all of these people. And then, Jessica Cooper called my dad in front of a judge to accuse him of leaking information about the existence of their fake grand jury proceedings on various cold cases. HE DID NOT TELL ANYONE, INCLUDING US, THAT HE HAD BEEN SUBPOENAED. Reporter Kevin Dietz reported the existence of the grand jury proceedings, based on two sources–and he signed an affidavit saying he heard none of this from my dad. So fuck Jessica Cooper and that judge, too. THIS IS HOW OAKLAND COUNTY AND THE MICHIGAN STATE POLICE TREAT VICTIMS.
Right on, Cathy.
We keep saying it, but can’t say it enough…blunt and simple…fuck all these pieces of trash in L.E., government, etc. that have destroyed this case whether purposely, accidentally or by pure stupidity. These people who have treated all these families so unbelievably poorly. I couldn’t even imagine in my worst nightmares, how the people we are told to trust have treated these families, the cases and yes…THE VICTIMS! What world are we living in!?!?!
And were not yet even talking about the scum that actually committed/had a part in these crimes.
The original post at the top kind of crystallized things for me. I was born not long after these crimes were committed, but I’ve been aware of and following this horror show since I was a kid. Through the years, all of the info I’ve read, articles/news reports, Cathy’s brave work and posts here, the endless amount of names associated…always had me wondering, how could so many people be involved? But as you slowly untangle this mess, you realize that there isn’t one singular “Oakland County Child Killer” operating out there by himself. Though Green and/or Bush (or another person) may have literally killed these children, the “Oakland County Child Killer” is not really this singular boogeyman, but instead, is this monolith, this network of horrible boogeymen.
Long story short, I am convinced that all the names that have been mentioned, all the tangential people, they all came in contact with these kids at some point between the time they were kidnapped and then ultimately murdered. Obviously, I knew they were involved by at least knowing or having an idea of what happened, but their connection ran/runs deeper and closer. Whether it was through participating in the actual murders, the torture/rape, the making of the snuff films to transporting the victims, to simple things like just talking to them during their captivity or seeing them in passing…every single suspect/piece of garbage that has been named…Sloan, Lamborghini, Lawson, Moore, etc….was within ear shot with most or all of the victims at one point or another. Creepy and horrifying to think about.
And the ones “left over” in jail, are doing what they’ve been doing…being pathetic, useless cowards not talking and being content to live the rest of their existence in jail until they die.
When you think this whole thing can’t make you any more infuriated, it smacks you in the face and says “Nope! Waaaay more where that came from!” And then your anger, sadness and disgust increases even more.
Hello Mr Jolliffe,
I too have thought similar, but you’re far more thorough
point by point than I ever would have been.
These days, whistleblowers are not popular. Yet I can’t
get out of my head that EVERY single person on state
side lives their life under that flimsy CYOA banner.
I can imagine that there’s at least ONE GOOD COP in
this case who’d LOVE to spill the beans. All of it.
Or is honesty truly dead?
Mr Jolliffe, agreed. I too have thought the same here.
One glaring problem, however: Surely there’s at least
ONE GOOD COP out there who’s not going to let this
go? I can’t conceive that EVERYONE involved in this
is a scumbag, but what do I know?
Have you seen the movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri? Maybe we could crowdsource funds and put up pictures of the children who were murdered and name the people who are now holding back information. Have the children call them out by name on the billboard and say “Please help me, please help my family find my killers.”
I don’t know the legal ramifications of that but I like that idea.
I think the issues are practical, not legal. We can’t use the state police tip line–it doesn’t get manned. And family members don’t have police powers to investigate the information.
Matt and Paul (comments above) have this right. Although people like Patterson, Thompson, Robertson, Krease, and Anger, as well as members of the FBI, did what they could to shelve this thing so it would “go away,” I don’t think they realized the lengths current law enforcement would go to protect that illegal and unethical approach for the rest of eternity. In their own inartful and thuggish way, they raised gaslighting to a new level.
Saw the movie, Kaycee and it was very compelling. I like what you propose. I initially dismissed the idea back when the movie first came out, because I was still hopeful a detective on the case would follow the leads developed since 2005. He has since retired. The case is squarely in the hands of the MSP, who assigned a new detective to the case. A new detective (can you imagine how long it takes to get up to speed on this case?) who has a full caseload of active cases. The “tip line,” provided at the end of The Children of the Snow does not even get manned or responded to. So this bill board would have to have a designated phone number that family members man. The problem is that we don’t have police powers. I am still trying to figure out a way that the bad guys don’t win here. The bad guys (and this includes the cops and by that I mean the cops who scuttled this thing and made it so it can’t be solved) are winning and will cash out when interest and everyone close to the case dies. But I love the image of the children calling out, BECAUSE THEY ARE.
Some of LE’s problems are of the financial sort. Not a “cop out”,
but I’d bet more money is spent on garbage collection than all of
law enforcement. Also, the culture has much to do with this as
well. I’ve never understood WHY districts don’t share as well as
they should. Again, some of this has to do with money: Outdated
computer systems; insufficient space for records, etc.
That said, “apathy” permeates this case. That’s the most horrifying.
It seems people were more interested in protecting THEMSELVES
and their careers than upholding the values of their positions.
But what REALLY grabbed me in this post was the following:
“I think it is reasonable to conclude that the first three kids’ bodies
were dumped in plain view in Oakland County as a sick homage
to Busch’s father, Daddy Warbucks.”
I’ve long thought he’s complicit in this mess somehow, if not directly,
at least as some sort of influence on his son. For one, that feeling of
being above the law due to social “station”. But as has been alleged,
more likely because Sr abused Jr.
What are your thoughts on Chris Busch’s “suicide” possibly masking his murder? I always the thought the “orgy of evidence” found in his room seemed manipulated or planted. Have you any theories on this?
Planted for sure. With the exception of the drawing of the screaming child. Busch’s nephew told police around 2007 or 2008 that he had seen the drawing on a wall in Chris’s bedroom before his death.
Do you believe the infamous suspect sketch (man with long sideburns) was an accurate lead? Or do you believe it was a false lead like the Gremlin?
I think we will never know.
Hello, I would like to know if you have any thoughts on why the 4 victims were found in the manner they were. Any ideas? Especially, the first victim in a parking lot in the middle of the morning. My condolences for you loss.
Thank you.
Thank you–I really don’t have any ideas that would be anything other than rank speculation. IF Mark was their first victim, they probably did not want to risk driving around for long with a dead body so they took their chances in a quiet parking lot during the day. Others have speculated that accessories to the crimes were charged with leaving the bodies. Still others have opined that leaving the bodies out in the open was a “fuck you” to society and perhaps to a parent/father. It is all speculation.